Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-08-04
lively SILK MOIho.
The Genuine Japanese Insects Spinning
New Y0rIr CITY


New York City.
In the museum of specimens up at
the Silk Exchange ON Bond street ]
was shown a cocoon which had been
found on a tree in the neighborhood of
Trinity churchyard. Whereby hangs a
tale. 1t seems that navy officer,
| whose home is or was on Bridge street,
Brooklyn, brought back with him from
a cruise in Eastern waters number of
silk cocoons, which he had gathered in
one of his visits ashore on the Japanese
coast. He put them in an old bird
| cage, which he hung on the rear piazza
of his house while he watched their de-
yelopment. To his surprise one morn
ing he found that the moths had Matched
over night. left the cocoons and escaped
through the bars of the cage From
this beginning sprang what iSnow a
very numerous colony of Japanese silk
moths. They propagated very rapidly
In Brooklyn at first, but numbers of
them have crossed the river, and it is
the cocoon of one of the latter which is
on exhibition at the Silk Exchange. In
other words the two cities are now the
home of silk moth, which has gone
back to its original wild state. Curious
enough, the worm derives its nourish-
ment from the leaves of the ailanthus
tree in the absence of its more natural
food, the leaves of the mulberry. In
deed, it thrives about as well upon one
as upon the other, but the ailanthus
supplies so much resin that the cocoon
is dtterly useless for silk. The moth,
az its name signifies, flies only at night
and may be seen fiuttering around the
globes of the electric light. People not
familiar with the scientific distinction
would take it for belated butterfly.
1t is quite large-as large.
say. as flying grasshOpper-
and of a brownish yellow color,
with a faint suggestion of green, and
the wings are beautifully marked with
bands and "eyes." like the famous
Emperor" Doubtless many people
have seen it, without knowing its pc
culiarity. When the ailanthus, for
which it waits every spring, is in leaf,
the moth may be seen any evening,
especially in the vicinity of this tree or
the electric lights. Its term of life is
brief-about two or three weeks-but
as the time of Matching varies with the
vitality of each individual cocoon, it
may be found flying until late i'll the
summer. During its existence it lays
from three hundred to five hundred
eggs, generally in the crevices of the
ailanthus. These hatch out during the
warm weather, and become weighing
little caterpillars, apparently, but they
are genuine silk worms, and may be
transferred and cultivated upon null
berry leaves. But they feed upon the
ailanthus as the nearest supply of food.
In due course the worm curls itself up
in leaf, after spinning little ribbon
of wonderful strength to suspend its
house from the branches, and then
spins tie cocoon, within which it wraps
itself for winding sheet until spring
time shall again bring the resurrection
of the chrysalis into the moth. Any
one who has noticed the bare branches
of an ailanthus in winter must have
observed these suspended ribbons and
cocoons, which to the casual eye might
appear to be but the wreck of a boys
kite. 1t should be mentioned that the
moth eats nothing during its short life.
1t is the worm or larva which con-
sumes the ailanthus leaf. The sur
prising thing is that any creature,
much less the beautiful silk worm,
should find pleasure in this fetid tree.
N. ]. Letter.